Policy & Research

Private: Mobile phones

T-Mobile and Orange merger

Consumer Focus has voiced concerns about the impact of the Orange- T-Mobile merger on the mobile phone market. We are working to ensure that there is a beneficial impact for all consumers. In December we asked the European Competition Commissioner to pass the decision about the joint venture to UK regulators for detailed scrutiny, a request which was rejected.

Our concerns about the merger were laid out in the letter, and are summarised here:

• We are concerned about the negative impact on UK competition. The merged entity would have interest in 40 per cent of UK subscriptions
• We wanted the merger to be examined at UK, not EU level in order to fully explore the impact on the UK mobile sector
• Improvements in 3G coverage for all UK consumers will depend on competition between the operators. Will reduced competition affect coverage?
• We are concerned that this merger may push smaller operators out of the market. Without small independent mobile operators, the competitive innovation that has been a particular feature of the UK market in recent years may be lost
• The combined spectrum hoardings (the radio frequency that mobile operators use) of the joint venture may give it an unfair competitive advantage

The EU Commission gave its formal approval to the merger on 1 March, after some negotiations.  In response to this announcement we expressed concern that there had not been a thorough enough assessment of its impact on consumers.

Consumer Focus will continue to advocate on behalf of consumers to ensure that customers see the benefits from the merger and that the process is as smooth as possible for T-Mobile and Orange customers.